Blog

It’s been a strange year, the beginning of our first lockdown was great for me as I spent so much time working on my books, and I was able to see what my life could be like if I was able to write full-time. It was like a dream come true.

The second half of the lockdown was harder as my Dad’s mobility became compromised and my siblings and I had to help and thankfully my dad is determined and a strong man and worked hard at his recovery. I’m in awe of his progress. Then Mum’s health went downhill and unfortunately the support which my dad received from the NHS was sadly lacking and we’re still trying to get the right support for her.

I went back to work in July and I went from being an assistant property manager in Surbiton to a property manager in Northfields. I love my new role and feel at ease in my environment, however, the workload is intense and I come home drained, barely able to focus on my writing.

However, I have finished wiring Illicit Love and have the final edit back from the editor and I’ve started to write the last in the trilogy, Healing Love. I’m very excited about this one.

I was due to be in Mexico now, but Covid! After a melt-down at work due to an accumulation of things getting the better of me and lack of sleep, I decided to book a holiday to Lanzarote which had opened up so I wouldn’t have to isolate when I got home….but then we went into full lockdown! Except I still need to work, so only have the annual leave time off.

So once more I had to motivate myself and that’s exactly what I’ve done. I finished work on Friday at 4.30pm, came home and did very little over the weekend as I allowed by body to dictate what I needed. But I have until the 26th November and I want to make the most of that time. Yesterday I worked on my marketing, editing, went for a lovely walk in the Heath and spent some quality time crafting. I realised at the end of the day I felt at peace and my soul was starting to fill up once more. Today I did more of the same but also worked on Healing Love.

I also had two purchases arrive which I indulged in to compensate for the lack of holiday. A Ninja air fryer/grill and epoxy resin kit. Both blew me away. Satay chicken, chips and grilled veg. I played with the epoxy resin also adding it to my latest project. See below, I just need to wait for the resin to dry and I can add the glass dome.

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I think I might work on Jules Robinson’s Christmas present tomorrow, so won’t be able to post a picture until after Christmas. It is a tradition that we always make each other something.

Very excited about my Amazon ranking on the UK site for A Boy from the Streets. A few more sales and I might hit the top one hundred in the Literary Sagas category but it may take a few more before I get that in Best Sellers Rank but never say never. Hard work and determination.

For the first time in a long time I am looking forward to what tomorrow brings and this isn’t something I imagined a week ago.

Keep strong and remember that even the tough times pass and from nowhere you may find the small things give you back your perspective.

Maria x

BLURB:A Prequel & Sequel to The Vintage Coat

Five years ago Joseph Michaels found a vintage military coat that changed his life forever. Now, he has stumbled across something even more valuable. His Grandfathers old war diaries. Through the pages of Charlie’s diaries Joe is taken back to WW2, where he learns so much more about his Grandfathers past than he could ever have imagined. Written mostly in diary format, discover a lot more about Charlie, and his incredible journey through the tough war years. Love, War and Personal Demons are only the beginning of this newly discovered forgotten story.

OUT NOW on Kindle & Paperback

AMAZON UK: https://goo.gl/lmV7Qg

AMAZON US: https://goo.gl/nfML4O

Chris Turnbullamazon.co.uk

BLURB:A Prequel & Sequel to The Vintage Coat

Five years ago Joseph Michaels found a vintage military coat that changed his life forever. Now, he has stumbled across something even more valuable. His Grandfathers old war diaries. Through the pages of Charlie’s diaries Joe is taken back to WW2, where he learns so much more about his Grandfathers past than he could ever have imagined. Written mostly in diary format, discover a lot more about Charlie, and his incredible journey through the tough war years. Love, War and Personal Demons are only the beginning of this newly discovered forgotten story.

OUT NOW on Kindle & Paperback

AMAZON UK: https://goo.gl/lmV7Qg

AMAZON US: https://goo.gl/nfML4O

Chris Turnbullamazon.co.uk

Good evening all,

Another good day at work but very busy which means the days go by quickly. Popped out at lunch to see if I could post the item I couldn’t on Saturday. The queue was a predicted 30 minute wait, so I walked back to work and spent my lunch more productively working on edits.

After work I stopped at Lammas Park and went for a little walk to get some steps in, but not going to hit my target today.

Had the most divine chicken goujon from M&S (Gluten Free) which I picked up from Kew on Saturday.

Started the July Amazon Ads for profit course by Bryan Cohen, although I suspect I’ll have to finish today’s video tomorrow as I’m struggling to keep my eyes open as I type this.

Stay safe

Good evening all,

Awful bloody night’s sleep as the neighbours were murdering classic songs on karaoke until gone midnight.

Came home from staying at my relatives and managed a bit of housework and a tad of editing before exhaustion overtook me. I couldn’t even stay out in the sunshine as I found it too much! Anyone who knows me will know I love the heat and can’t get enough of the sun. Feel like I’m running on empty.

Had a nice chat with my neighbour, pulled up a chair, had a coffee and put the world to rights outside her house. Socially distancing of course!

Now need to get ready for my working week.

Stay safe.

Good evenng all,

It’s been a busy day and I’ve smashed over 16000 steps.

Got up early and rode to Kew retail park to get some new work shoes and a present for Mum for her birthday next week, 80 years young. I had two gift vouchers to use, one was given to me at Christmas and had £30.00 on it and the other was part of a birthday present from my colleagues in Surbiton and was for £15.00. Except when I got to the check-out the £15.00 had nothing on, it hadn’t been activated!

I went early enough that it wasn’t too busy, well with the exception of the food hall where the Kew M&S customers had no more concept of social distancing than the Aldi Feltham clientele!

After that I walked down to the post office to send a gift to a friend, the PO is inside a shop and the shop assistant who saw me straight away waited a full five minutes to inform me the PO was closed! Nice!

After dinner I walked down to Tesco’s to get some food items I’d need for the week, a good thirty minutes each way.

Spent this evening trying to work out how to convert my Epub version of A Boy from the Streets to a Mobi copy on Vellum. Got there eventually and was really simple.

Not much else to report.

Tired now!

Stay safe.

Good evening all,

Finished my first week back to work on a high. On a Friday we have a work’s quiz and I got 5/12 which is better than the ones I did in my old office. Although I am definitely very tired.

Managed to get some editing done in my lunch break.

Staying at my relatives house again.

Stay safe

Good evening all,

It’s life Jim but not as we know it! Maybe that’s not true, life seems to be exactly as it once was. The streets are crowded and Tesco have taken down their one way system and opened all the check-outs again. Covid-19 might as well not exist anymore. The threat is apparently over!

My second day at my new workplace, don’t want to over gush but so far so good. Spent a but of my lunch break working on the edits for Illicit Love and the rest talking to two of my new colleagues.

As you can see from the top paragraph I also went to Tesco’s at the end of the day to do the shopping for my parents and my friend, Emma’s, Dad.

Feeling really exhausted though. I really do need to maximise the time I do have to focus on my books in order to make my writing possible as a career.

Stay safe.

Good evening,

Lockdown is over for me. I’m back to work. It was my first day in my new team in a new area and I was welcomed warmly. It was strange being back in a work environment and I missed having copious hours on my books.

It turns out that my new director was in primary school with my son, in the same class and her uncle was in the same class as my brother. What a small world!

The journey to and from work was painless and during lunch I had a little walk around the shopping centre.

So very tired now though!

Stay safe

Good evening all,

My last day of freedom before I head back to work. I’m certainly going to miss the time I had to spend on my books. So much to do and so little time moving forward. I have to appreciate the time I’ve had though and the changes I’ve been able to implement. It has reinforced for me that I want to make writing a full-time career and that I can motivate myself to do what’s needed. I have to make sure I use every bit of my spare time constructively and not avoid marketing as I had previously.

I spent the best part of this morning sorting through things for my return to work tomorrow and this afternoon editing Illicit Love. Up to page 84/206.

Had a call from my manager to check if I knew where I needed to go for my new role and said I could come in an hour later tomorrow. Nice.

Tomorrow’s blog will be a tad different, what that will look like will be as much as mystery to me as it will be for you.

Stay safe.